Hello, today is my stop on the Tulip Taylor blog tour! I thought I’d tell you a little about the book and share my thoughts š
Tulip Taylor, make up vlogger extraordinaire has just
one problem, her controlling mother. Tulip is forced
to endorse brands she has never even heard of, and
to make things worse, her mother is planning on
starting her own reality tv show, where Tulip and her
siblings lives will be broadcast on the internet 24/7.
When the new boy at school challenges her to go on a
survival TV show, Tulip agrees. Sure, she’ll make a fool
of herself on national tv, but this might be exactly what
she needs to stop her mum's ridiculous ideas and get
back to her normal life. The problem is Tulip must first
brave the wilderness and actually come out the other
side alive.
one problem, her controlling mother. Tulip is forced
to endorse brands she has never even heard of, and
to make things worse, her mother is planning on
starting her own reality tv show, where Tulip and her
siblings lives will be broadcast on the internet 24/7.
When the new boy at school challenges her to go on a
survival TV show, Tulip agrees. Sure, she’ll make a fool
of herself on national tv, but this might be exactly what
she needs to stop her mum's ridiculous ideas and get
back to her normal life. The problem is Tulip must first
brave the wilderness and actually come out the other
side alive.
When I saw the cover of this book I didn’t think it would be my thing, but I soon changed my mind when I saw what it was all about! Tulip Taylor is a popular makeup vlogger with thousands of subscribers. However, not all is as it seems, as although she enjoys what she does, her mother is exploiting her for money, forcing her to endorse product after product, and turning her hobby into their main source of income. Tulip’s mother was awful and was constantly trying to profit off her children. Even her five year old twins were put on the internet, and making money through their antics was all she seemed to care about. It makes me uncomfortable when I see parents documenting their child's whole life online. One day they are going to be old enough to realise their parents have been posting everything they do online for the whole world to see. Children can be cruel to each other, and if with a few clicks they can bring up a video of 8 year old Charlie crying his eyes out at age 4 well- I don’t see things going over too well.
Even though Tulip goes through a lot of character development, I actually liked her at the start. Tulip is a popular vlogger, but she’s never cocky and is always kind to her classmates. I loved how she always stood up for herself and didn’t allow people to think she was dumb just because she was a makeup vlogger. Girls can be smart while looking great and Tulip proved that!
There were lots of important themes in this book, but my favourite was the importance of being yourself, and not changing who you are to please others. Harvey’s older brother is constantly telling him he needs to act like him, which results in some pretty funny moments but also makes Tulip think he’s a bit of a dick. Tulip only starts liking Harvey when he stops listening to his brother's bad advice and starts to be himself rather than trying to be his brother. Unlike Harvey, Tulip is herself from the start, and although her peers initially dislike her, she soon shows them she isn’t as dumb as they assumed, and that the internet can actually be a useful source of information. I loved how her teammates eventually warmed up to her and saw there was a method to her madness.
Another theme that I loved was the importance of preserving the environment. Tulip experiences firsthand how plastic washes up on beaches, does her best to help clean it up, and decides to make lifestyle changes such as using less plastic and only using cruelty-free makeup. I loved how experiencing nature and wildlife, and the damage people cause to it made Tulip more conscious about the environment.
Taking a break from social media is something we can all benefit from. Every day we check our timelines to see hate, homophobia, and racism. Although we only follow those who share our ideals, we still see news stories of people doing terrible things, and often see hate targeted at a group of people. Seeing this on a daily basis can negatively affect our mental health, and it’s important for us to step away when it becomes too much. I loved how despite everyone telling Tulip she was obsessed with her phone, she was able to leave it behind and focus on the present. I did, however, feel like it gave a bit of a “phones are evil, the internet is bad” vibe, as when Tulip returned from being on the reality show, she completely ditched her phone seemingly for good. Despite showing how she had learned life-saving skills through researching them online, the end result seems to show Tulip as thinking the internet is bad, as she deletes her vlog channel and her social media accounts. I thought this was a little extreme, and felt there should have been more of a balance between Tulip’s real life and internet life rather than cutting out the internet part completely.
One of the things I loved about the book was how it showed that just because a girl wears makeup doesn’t mean that’s all she cares about. Tulip showed that makeup doesn’t completely define a person, so I was disappointed when after the show, she no longer seemed interested in makeup. Like the internet situation, the end made it seem as if Tulip was now a better person for no longer being interested in makeup. There is nothing wrong with enjoying wearing makeup and being on the internet as long as these things aren’t the only things that define you, so, despite all the other messages that I loved, this seemed to be telling girls that people will think they’re silly and self-absorbed if they wear makeup and take selfies. Wearing makeup and taking pride in how you look doesn’t make you a bad person, and if it makes someone feel more confident about themselves then I say go for it! I think I actually preferred the Tulip we met at the start of the book.
I adored Harvey’s character development and thought his realisation that he should just be himself went perfectly. However, Tulip’s character development seemed to miss the mark, and is the reason why I’m not rating the book five stars. However, I did adore the reality TV part of the book, which was like a more extreme version of I’m a Celeb. Tulip conquered her fears and never backed down from a challenge, and I loved how she soon came to realise she was more capable than she thought. There were some things that were terrifying and I would definitely not have been able to do half of the things Tulip did. Something that I adored was how Harvey didn’t hide his emotions during one of the scarier tasks. Boys are often told they can’t cry or be afraid, but Harvey didn’t try to hide how scared he was despite his brother being the poster child of toxic masculinity. I loved how despite pushing his sons, Harvey’s dad was proud of him for what he’d achieved rather than reprimanding him for showing weakness. I also loved how Tulip and Harvey came to trust each other, and their relationship progressed naturally and at a steady pace.
I overall enjoyed this book and thought it gave some great messages about the environment and not changing who you are to please others. This was a fun and action-packed contemporary that made me want to leave the internet behind for a week and go on an adventure!
Tulip Taylor is now available to purchase!
| Amazon | Book Depository
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